


Shal-Nai

by Helen A (HowNovel)



Category: Starman (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1995-08-13
Updated: 1995-08-13
Packaged: 2017-11-03 11:32:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/380927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowNovel/pseuds/Helen%20A
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Paul's birthday as a being from his star, and he frees the true being from Paul's body in a celebration of creation, wishing he can share this special moment with Scott.</p><p>Fan Q Honorable Mention 1996</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shal-Nai

Shal-Nai

By Helen A

© 08/13/1995

Shal-Nai

The still form lay upon the cheap motel bed, to all appearances asleep. Appearances could be most deceptive however, for even as the body lay still in much-needed rest, the mind was awake and alert and had never been more active.

Blue-white energy pulsed above the head of the somnolent human for a moment as the life essence of the man known to all who cared to ask as Paul Forrester left his body for a time, secure in the knowledge that it would be undisturbed for several hours. The only risk to the alien was a chance that his young son would awaken before he returned from his mission. Scott wouldn’t understand that his father’s lack of pulse and breathing was a form of temporary stasis and not something dire.

This was a trip that the alien, who had become used to thinking of himself as “Paul,” would not have made under most circumstances. He never knew when Fox or some other government agent would show up looking to capture the extraterrestrial being and tear him and Scott apart. But this was a most unusual circumstance.

This was a night to recall his true identity and live in his true form as the hours of his Shal-Nai passed on his adopted world. Shal-Nai was the festival of Creation. The time in life when one became aware of all life everywhere passing in harmony with one’s own. When a being knew in the depths of his soul the secrets of his own place in the Universe.

He rose into the night sky, higher and higher, expanding and brightening until he looked to any casual observer on the ground like a part of the star-field from which he came. A sense of rightness and of freedom filled his being thrilling him with its intensity. He was a vital part of every living thing and there was nothing beyond his reach.

Thoughts, feelings, sights, sounds, and sensations flooded through him. This was the moment he had lived for. This was joy!

The surging tide of emotion swept on and on and Paul was at one with it all. But through his heady rush of feeling intruded an unexpected reaction. A raw aching loneliness washed over him. Shal-Nai was not a time to be alone. It was a time of sharing everything you were with those to whom you were closest. But the people of his native world were light-years away and the only person Paul really wanted with him anyway was Scott. He wanted his son to truly understand what he was and what the Shal-Nai meant to his people.

Knowing that what he wanted was not possible, Paul cried out a silent call of yearning to the quiet universe.

Far below, in a quiet, brown-papered, brown-carpeted motel room, Scott Hayden stirred restlessly in his sleep. Someone was calling him, needed him badly. He felt himself rising up and moving quickly toward an unknown destination. A part of his mind knew he should be alarmed, but another stronger part knew that there was no danger. Only the urgency of that unidentified plea mattered. Scott moved on and on for what seemed an eternity. He began to despair of ever finding the source of the strange summons when abruptly, all motion ceased. All time and thought froze as Scott beheld his summoner.

The being was not moving and yet it seemed to flow in every direction. It was a silvery blue, faintly circular in shape, with hints of every color and shape imaginable dancing through its shimmering form. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing Scott had ever seen, and Scott knew it was his father. Father (in this state, Scott couldn’t bring himself to think of it as “Dad”) seemed surprised to find him here, wherever “here” was. Scott tried to speak but he seemed voiceless. He reached out to Father, reassuring him, even as he silently pleaded for reassurance himself.

“I’m here, Father,” he thought. “You called me and I came.”

The being that was Paul Forrester seemed to hear him. It surged forward, surrounding Scott. Projections of love and great joy filled them both with warmth as Paul explained with no words the meaning of the Shal-Nai. Scott observed in awe the true power and majesty of his alien father’s heritage as even the stars seemed to offer greetings and good wishes to him. Small silver globes appeared all around Paul’s glittering form. They twirled and spun madly in a far-flung message of love for one like them who was far away from home. Music was everywhere and everything was alight.

How long the symphony of life and feeling lasted was unknown, but as the soundless racket died away, Scott opened his eyes and sat up in his motel bed. Tears ran down his cheeks, unchecked. A sound to his left brought Scott’s attention to the other bed in the room. Paul sat staring at him in amazement, tears sliding down his own face in response to his son’s.

“You were there!” he breathed. “But that’s impossible!”

Scott managed a shaky grin. He got up and moved to the other bed, where he gave Paul a quick hug. Understanding shone in his brown eyes. “Nothing’s impossible. Happy Birthday, Dad.”

The End

Helen A isn’t herself a huge STARMAN fan but she wrote this for her best friend, Christine VH.


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